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Should Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 ETF (IVOO) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market, look no further than the Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 ETF (IVOO - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/09/2010.

The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $1.55 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Blend

With market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion, mid cap companies usually contain higher growth prospects than large cap companies, and are considered less risky than their small cap counterparts. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.10%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.36%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 23.30% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Financials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Builders Firstsource Inc. (BLDR - Free Report) accounts for about 0.83% of total assets, followed by Hubbell Inc. (HUBB - Free Report) and Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (RS - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 5.72% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

IVOO seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Index measures the performance of the mid-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index composed of 400 domestic common stocks.

The ETF return is roughly 4.08% so far this year and was up about 12.15% in the last one year (as of 10/11/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $75.71 and $92.16.

The ETF has a beta of 1.14 and standard deviation of 20.72% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 402 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, IVOO is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO - Free Report) and the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $52.50 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $70.57 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH charges 0.05%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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